This article "gets it," especially the part I extracted below.
For the masses, online streaming is OK for those who don't want to keep a library at their disposal -- but the pickings are slim if you are dependent on Netflix or Amazon to provide free movies every month.
Meanwhile we're entering a Blu-Ray era that's just ideal for movie buffs thanks to Kino Lorber, Twilight Time, Shout and other indie labels.
one of the main driving forces behind the Blu-ray renaissance is the simple fact that the mainstreamers—which include everyone from Netflix to Amazon Prime to Apple—all have sizable gaps in their movie libraries. Those limitations have become painfully clear in the last year, as some film lovers looked around and noticed that many of their favorite movies, whether vintage releases or even semi-recent blockbusters like True Lies, were nearly impossible to find in digital form.
That point was reinforced by the sudden closure of the ambitious and well-curated FilmStruck, which featured Warner Bros. classics and arthouse flicks from Criterion Collection. FilmStruck’s demise made clear just how ephemeral streaming is: If your favorites aren’t on your shelves, there’s a chance they could disappear on short notice. “There are movies that I want to watch, or share with others, and increasingly they’re not there when I try to find them on Amazon Prime or Hulu,” says Killebrew. “Having a physical copy is my back-up.”
What makes me nervous about physical media is that it is so dependent on technology.
Yes, the equipment to play physical media may still be there in the future, but nonetheless, it's not like you grandkids will be able to pick up a blu-ray like they could a book, where they could easily read it and be turned on to a life long passion. Can't do that with a shiny disk, not without some inconvenience. We never did that with 78rpm records and I doubt kids of the future will be any different.
I don't know about that -- turntables are everywhere again. CDs are still being made, and that tech is over 30 years old. DVDs continue to be made, and they're over 20 years old. They may not be around in another 10-20, but I do think Blu-Ray or UHD (or its successor) will be.
I think what's often glossed over in the talk about "physical vs. digital" ownership is that there is always going to be a marketplace for "the best experience." Streaming may be "good enough" for some people, but it is NOT the best experience to watch, say, a 1080p or a 4K movie. As screens get bigger and bigger, more people will eventually see the difference, and a disc-based media is always going to provide the best forum for audio and video delivery. It's just how it is, and if we ever go to 8K, it'll be the same there too. There are limitations on streaming, bandwidth and what not, that are always going to be there.
Don't get me wrong -- there's no question a 4K stream on Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, etc. can still look great -- but it's not up to 4K UHD quality. A 1080p stream on those same services can also look great...but I can see the difference when I put the same movie on Blu-Ray and watch it on my TV. There's more detail, there are things being lost in the stream...so it's good, and it may be fine for some/many, but it's not "the best experience."
What streaming has done is placate people who aren't movie buffs, or don't want their own libraries. It's all "good enough", again, but how many times do you hear from someone who's reliant on Netflix that "they took that movie away!" or "the movies are all terrible now". As time goes forward, you'll be seeing LESS and less catalog films from years back on those services -- Netflix is amassing their own inventory of original programming, and services like that and Amazon will be mostly comprised of their in-house content. Not back catalog libraries they have to pay another studio to license from. The studios that are left will use those catalogs to pump up their own streaming services (like Disney probably will with all the Fox content they just absorbed), but it's all going to be splintered and how many services will someone want to subscribe to before "cutting the cord" is no longer cost efficient? (That day is coming, my friends...)
As I've written before, I do dabble in both realms. I've long invested in the Vudu ecosystem and I like it -- and indeed, there are many movies where "the best experience" ISN'T on disc...there are 1080p HDX versions of all kinds of movies that never made it to Blu-Ray. For those titles still stuck in DVD land, I've bought many titles that are available on Vudu, and it's definitely been a worthwhile investment...but I'd also jump ship and buy a Blu-Ray of some of those favorites if they ever became available in HD on disc.
Nevertheless, disc based media still provides "the best experience" in addition to the other perks -- and even if the format changes again, I just don't see it ever totally going away, even if it's just serving the needs of the high-end niche that laserdisc once catered to (me included!)
I will always prefer owning a physical disc to streaming.